A brilliant epilogue is the perfect ending to another enjoyable read from Louise Jensen. 4/5 stars.
The Surrogate is out tomorrow, Wednesday 27th September 2017
Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me an e-copy of this book to read and review.
The blurb: Kat and her husband Nick have tried everything to become parents, and are on the point of giving up. Then a chance encounter with Kat’s childhood friend Lisa gives Kat and Nick one last chance to achieve their dream.
But Kat and Lisa’s history hides dark secrets.
And there is more to Lisa than meets the eye.
As dangerous cracks start to appear in Kat’s perfect picture of happily-ever-after, she realises that she must face her fear of the past to save her family…
My take:
This will be a short review to avoid spoilers!
Regular readers of my reviews will know I have an up-and-down relationships with book branded “psychological thrillers” or “dark thrillers”. However, having enjoyed Louise Jensen’s previous two books – The Sister and The Gift (click the titles for my reviews) – I went into The Surrogate with high hopes, which thankfully weren’t disappointed.
From the blurb and the first couple of chapters, I came to expect something along the lines of The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, but I was pleased to discover that the author gives us something else entirely!
As you’ll expect if you’ve read Jensen’s previous books, the various threads of the story are handled expertly to keep us in the dark and continue delivering surprise after surprise. The characters’ back stories are scattered between the present day chapters, but this is never confusing and does very little to slow the current action down.
I didn’t find the central heroine – Kat – quite as sympathetic as the main female characters in The Sister and The Gift, but she was still well drawn and believable. That said, it was nice to get an occasional break from being inside her increasingly paranoid head space as we dipped into Nick’s point of view.
I must confess, as we got to the end I felt slightly disappointed that things were wrapped up a little to neatly. BUT THEN… the Epilogue happened. This final chapter is a proper punch in the guts. I won’t give anything away, but it contains two fantastic shocks and a revelation about a streak of genuinely disturbing darkness in one of the characters which had only been hinted at previously. It was brilliant, and I wouldn’t have minded more of that darkness earlier on in the story (and I say that as a bit of “thriller wimp”!).
Overall: Yet another page-turner from Louise Jensen. Fans of The Sister and The Gift will be delighted. I predict another huge success!
Claire Huston / Art and Soul
Art and Soul 
Great review Claire. I agree with you on everything. Like you, I wasn’t too crazy about the ending but the epilogue sure did have some wonderful, shocking revelations. I like how the epilogue ended too. Glad that you enjoyed this one.
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Thank you 🙂
I thought the epilogue was brilliant. I would have liked a bit more of those sort of “deep shocks” a bit earlier on. But I can understand why she wanted to save them for the end!
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Great review! I was hoping it was out today, as Tuesdays are usually “release day.” But only one more day. I enjoyed The Sister….and surrogacy is fascinating to me. So many sad things can happen between pregnancy and birth. Thanks for sharing.
Sounds like the epilogue is the perfect place for more stunning revelations.
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Thank you!
I thought it might be out on Thursday and was surprised they’re going for Wednesday 🙂
That’s the thing with surrogacy: so many things can happen between the surrogate getting pregnant and birth (as you say), that as you’re reading the book you’re thinking, “O this is going to happen… or this… or this” and you’re usually wrong! 🙂
I hope you enjoy it!
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Looks like an interesting book, Claire. I too am a thriller wimp but this one looks very enjoyable.
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Louise’s books are perfect for thriller wimps like me because none of them involve too much threat or anything really nasty. She’s really good at getting over paranoia and suspicion without going over the top.
Things get a bit far-fetched in places, but then that’s all thrillers! 🙂
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Really excited to read this one- I’ve heard great things and enjoyed the Sister- glad you liked this one even if it was wrapped up neatly- great review!
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Thank you!
If you enjoyed The Sister then you’re pretty-much guaranteed to enjoy this one as some things about the set-up are similar. Hang on for that epilogue though, it’s brilliant, and if you see it coming then you should be a detective! 🙂
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You’re welcome! ah brilliant! Thanks for the tip!! haha now I’m even more intrigued!!
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Great review! I just ordered it for my Ipad. Thanks again Claire!
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Thank you! I hope you enjoy it. And if you think the end is a little disappointing… don’t worry, the epilogue is fabulous! 🙂
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LOL, okay I am definitely excited now.
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I’ve also read Louise’s two previous novels and I’m really looking forward to reading her latest novel and I love twists, the more the merrier!
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I hope you enjoy it! She certainly keeps the twists coming 🙂
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I didn’t really love The Gift so have kind of avoided this one to be honest but have to say your review does pique my interest! 🙂
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I’ll tell you more about it (without spoilers!) when I see you 🙂
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